Tom Wingfield

Tuberculosis rates are rising. Here's who's most at risk | BBC Science Focus Magazine Cases of tuberculosis are rising in the UK and US, and experts are urging that a holistic approach to treatment is the best course of action

🫁 New #BBC article with Kerry Millington tackling the common misconception that #TB is a disease of the past in UK/US: more people are falling ill so who’s really at risk.
🔗 www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-bo...

We also highlight the vital research of our @lstmnews.bsky.social TB Centre
#EndTB 🌍💡

Tuberculosis rates are rising. Here's who's most at risk | BBC Science Focus Magazine Cases of tuberculosis are rising in the UK and US, and experts are urging that a holistic approach to treatment is the best course of action

"Is TB really making a comeback? The short answer is that the disease never really went away."

@tomwingfield.bsky.social and @kerrymillington.bsky.social have written an insightful piece for BBC Science Focus.

www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-bo....

Poverty and TB symposium session starting in 10 mins at Union #WCLH2025. Stellar speakers on this vital topic and I am delighted to chair. Room B4A (bring a coat!).

The Guardian view on the atrocities in El Fasher: the responsibility for these horrors extends beyond Sudan’s borders | Editorial Editorial: The world said ‘never again’ after Darfur’s genocide. Yet it stood by as catastrophe loomed

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Climate change and tuberculosis: an analytical framework Climate change is likely to exacerbate a range of determinants that drive tuberculosis, the world's leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. However, tuberculosis is often neglected in w...

Our framework that informed the @who.int TB & climate change policy brief out now in @lancetrespirmed.bsky.social, exploring the intersections and implications of climate change for the TB epidemic. Key message? TB should be considered a climate-sensitive disease
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Just had a brilliant week with the whole TB Module team here @lstmnews.bsky.social teaching on the #DTMH #TB module. A wonderful bunch of smart, curious, engaging and engaged students! What a privilege and good luck with the rest of the course!

🌍 New @lancetrespirmed.bsky.social!
Pooled sputum testing for TB: revisiting a cost-saving innovation

🚫 Let's bust pooling myths & misconceptions!

🔬 Pooling is efficient, accurate, cost-saving & improves equity of access!

📖 Read at doi.org/10.1016/S221...

Thanks @unitaid.bsky.social for funding!

World leaders show strong support for political declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health World leaders have expressed overwhelming support for the text of the first United Nations global political declaration on responding to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental health in an integra...

World leaders have expressed overwhelming support for the text of the first UN global political declaration on responding to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) & #MentalHealth in an integrated manner.
Read more: bit.ly/484q2vS

Event graphic

This RCPE symposium explores the intersections of pandemic recovery, humanitarian crises and health inequality.

Ideal for professionals in Infectious Diseases, Public Health, Global Health, and more.

Link to book: www.rcpe.ac.uk/events/infec... @tomboylesid.bsky.social @tomwingfield.bsky.social

💡 TB's impact doesn’t just end with treatment: nor should cost-effectiveness analysis. New @lstmnews.bsky.social led multi-country modelling study @plosglobalpublichealth.org shows excluding patient costs or post-TB impact underestimates intervention cost-effectivenes & benefit.
tinyurl.com/arkhnwcp

Global, regional, and national estimates of tuberculosis incidence averted by eliminating undernutrition in adults: a modelling study Background Current efforts to reduce global tuberculosis incidence have proved insufficient, highlighting that urgent action is needed to address underlying modifiable risk factors such as undernutrit...

So...what would happen to the global TB epidemic if we hypothetically "eliminated" undernutrition? In this preprint, we combined estimates from our new review (doi.org/10.1093/ije/...) with population-specific BMI distributions to find out...(doi.org/10.1101/2025...)

Finishing TB treatment isn’t the finish line. Our TB Champions are speaking out, showing why #PostTBCare needs urgent research. Their voices are the drivers of change. 💛 #EndTB #PostTB @posttbcare.bsky.social

Our next LSTM Inaugural Lecture will be delivered by Professor Euphemia Sibanda!

Her talk will take place on Wednesday, October 22 (5-7pm, UK time) in Liverpool and online.

Book now to secure your place! lstm.ac/EuphemiaLect....

📢 🙌 #TBcommunity @britsciassoc.bsky.social #BritishScienceFestival is in Liverpool!

Fatima Karmadwala & I are thrilled to give #BSF2025 award lecture "Fighting poverty & stigma to defeat TB"

Redmonds Building, LJMU, 12.30-1.30, Thurs 11 Sept

Free tickets:
tinyurl.com/4s5sxax8

See you there!!

Text on the image reads: “COVID-19 brought mental health to the forefront of global health discussions. Mental health policies are evolving—but progress is still slow and uneven.”

#MentalHealth can’t wait.

Countries are stepping up—revising policies, adopting rights-based frameworks, and strengthening emergency plans.

Let’s invest in:
✅ Fair funding
✅ Protective laws
✅ Skilled workforce
✅ Community care

No health without mental health. 🔗 bit.ly/3Vr2mtR

Fantastic, important work @kchorton.bsky.social and team. Thank you.

Undoing progress through sudden tuberculosis funding cuts Tuberculosis remains the world's leading infectious killer, resulting in more than 1·25 million deaths in 2023 alone.1 During the past decade, efforts to end tuberculosis have achieved important miles...

Abrupt funding cuts to international aid are disrupting essential tuberculosis (TB) services. Ending TB remains within reach—but only with adequate adaptation, investment, and will.

New Comment ⤵️
tinyurl.com/2xccptr5

Brilliant study @mjsaunder.bsky.social and team. Well done!

#Famine in #Gaza already occurring, LSHTM experts warn

Francesco Checchi & Marko Kerac say immediate opening of land borders for safe food deliveries vital as acute starvation risks disease, death, & long-term effects of #malnutrition.

www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n...

Fantastic news @bnmtnepal.bsky.social and very well done and deserved Bhola! I look forward to celebrating together!

Cover of The Lancet August 2, 2025 issue. Quote on cover reads: "In conflict settings, maternal, newborn, and child health services are among the first to collapse and the last to be restored. In Sudan, this collapse is accelerating, with a devastating long-term toll."

The crisis in Sudan is a health catastrophe that the world cannot afford to ignore. Yet, the global response has been gravely inadequate.

Our latest Editorial calls for sustained global commitment & attention to safeguard health in Sudan.

Read this & more in our new issue: tinyurl.com/m9nutk5w

Rescue Roulette: Dogs from Abroad With some new owners finding their pets exposed to unexpected disease, vets’ bills and heartache when adopting rescue dogs from abroad, is there enough oversight of the sector?

Dr Stephen Woolley was interviewed by the BBC about brucella canis, a rare bacterial infection that mostly affects dogs but can be transmitted to humans.

Catch up on his interview in the documentary 'Rescue Roulette: Dogs from Abroad' here: lstm.ac/40GKhv5 (from 9:00)

Text reads: "Of the 304 million people living with hepatitis B and C, only... 7 million are treated for hepatitis B 12.5 million people for hepatitis C"

#Hepatitis facts you should know:

Hepatitis B
👉 Only 13% of people with hep B had been diagnosed
👉 Just 3% had received treatment at the end of 2022

Hepatitis C
👉 Only 36% had been diagnosed
👉 20% had received curative treatment

We have the tools. Let’s use them 🔗bit.ly/hepatitis2025

New Editorial - World Hepatitis Day 2025: elimination at a critical juncture

buff.ly/gcnJooI

#WorldHepatitisDay #LiverSky #MedSky #IDSky #HepSky

On Monday, WHO’s staff residence in Deir al-Balah, #Gaza, was hit by projectiles and damaged by fire while our personnel and their families were inside.

Male colleagues were detained, stripped to their underwear, handcuffed & blindfolded.

🔊 Hear what happened on the ground. #NotATarget

11,000 more TB patients died after Trump's USAID cuts. That number will rise. | Opinion The potential for thousands of new deaths from TB is not worth the less than 1% in federal savings that came from cutting USAID.

www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

With full MMR vaccination rates declining across the UK and reports of cases of measles on the rise, how can doctors recognise and manage measles?

GP Frances Dutton shares advice
www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Start4All

🙏 Huge thanks to all teams & participants.
We’re moving closer to diagnostics that reach the #MissedMillions.

See our related article here: tinyurl.com/3knexpcz

🔗 lstmed.ac.uk/start4all
#PoolingStrategy #TBInnovation #Start4All #WHO #HealthEquity

Start4All

🧵 3/3
🌐 Study sites were in Bangladesh, Brazil, Cameroon, Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, & Vietnam. Eight brilliant teams recruited ~15,000 participants, including:
- People living with HIV
- Children
- Nomadic people
- Internally displaced people
- Urban & rural vulnerable communities